Members of the "Supreme Council of State" in Libya agreed on Sunday to support dialogue sessions aimed at resolving the conflict in their country.
This comes shortly after the President of the Council called on the Government of National Accord to open an urgent investigation into the agreement to open oil ports in the east of the country.
The Council discussed, during an official session in the capital, Tripoli, developments in the political dialogue in the presence of 85 members, according to a statement by the Council’s Media Office on the social networking site “Facebook”.
The statement stated that it was agreed during the session to support the dialogue sessions that were held in Morocco and Switzerland through three tracks.
He explained that these tracks are the constitutional path, through the referendum on the draft constitution, and the second is related to the amendment of the executive authority through the amendment of the Presidency Council with a president, two deputies, and a head of government separate from the Presidency Council.
As for the third track, according to the statement, it is to activate Article 15 of the Libyan Political Agreement (for the year 2015) regarding the agreement between the state and parliament on renaming the occupants of the sovereign positions.
He added that it was agreed to expand the circle of discussion on these tracks, by holding meetings with all the elected bodies in the country.
The High Council of State in Libya is an executive institution and an advisory body established after an agreement signed in Skhirat, Morocco, on December 17, 2015 under the auspices of the United Nations.
Ras Lanuf oil port in Libya (Reuters)
The announcement by the Supreme Council of State of its support for the dialogue sessions comes after its president, Khaled Al-Mashri, announced, earlier on Sunday, his rejection of an agreement to resume production and export of oil that was reached between the Vice President of the Presidency Council, Ahmed Maitiq, and retired Major General Khalifa Haftar.
Al-Mashri considered that the agreement violates the governing principles of the political agreement (the Skhirat Agreement between the parties to the Libyan conflict in 2015) and the laws in force.
He called for an urgent investigation to be opened about the background of the agreement, and whether there is any other party involved with it, and for a copy of the investigation results to be referred for appropriate action.
Al-Mashri said that the agreement is an assault on the competencies of the legitimate authorities contained in the political agreement, such as the House of Representatives, the State Council, and the Presidential Council, and an attack on the legal jurisdiction of the Central Bank of Libya.
On Friday, Haftar announced, in a televised speech, the resumption of Libyan oil production and export after more than 240 days of closure.
His spokesman, Ahmed Al-Mismari, said that ending the oil shutdown came according to an agreement reached with Maitiq, while local media reported that the agreement was concluded separately between the two sides.